Different to reality
by Loopstagirl
Summary: Scott's plan for revenge on Gordon goes drastically wrong, much to Alan's humiliation.


**Embarrassingly based on the fact that whilst i may be able to drive in real life, put me on a games console and i am a complete and utter disaster - as both friends and family will testify!**

**Please review?**

Alan lay gazing at his ceiling for a few moments, wondering what on earth could have woken him. The guys had gone out on a rescue earlier that evening, but neither he nor Gordon had been needed, it had been a relatively straight forward one that had Scott and Virgil back in no time. The remaining family had joined them for debriefing, something that was becoming a bit of a habit of late. Whether they were needed or not, all the Tracys gathered round, for Jeff believed that it would provide good practice at knowing how to handle scenarios. By the time they were done trading facts, insults and playful banter, it had reached midnight, the adrenaline wearing off enough for Virgil to declare he was going to turn in. Alan hadn't waited around to find out what Gordon and Scott were going to do, but had followed his brother to bed shortly afterwards. He may not have been on the actual rescue, but the teenager had had a long and busy day anyway, helping his brothers' work on their 'birds.

But now, gazing up at the ceiling above his bed, the blond couldn't work out what had awoken him. Glancing at the clock, Alan's frown only deepened when he saw it had just reached one. He hadn't been asleep that long, yet normally he slept the whole night through without any problems. Sparing his watch another glance, Alan ruled out the possibility that perhaps there had been a rescue and it was the vibrations that had awoken him, for all was still. The rest of the villa was quiet as well, only making the teen even more confused as to why he was awake. Pushing the matter to the back of his mind, Alan sank back into the pillows, eyes drifting shut once more. Whatever it was, it had gone now.

"You're going down!"

Sitting bolt upright, Alan blindly reached out a hand and smacked his light, causing it to flare into life. There had definitely been a noise this time, or more precisely, a voice. Listening hard, Alan frowned again when silence once more fell, but he was certain he hadn't been dreaming the voice. Swinging his legs out of bed, Alan padded across the room, automatically skirting around the mess. Maybe he really should tidy that up some day…

Reaching his door, he opened it carefully, anxious to not make any sound. Scott was such a light sleeper, and with his bedroom only next door, Alan knew from experience that his oldest brother could be out of bed in a flash if he heard one of them moving around in the night. Slipping it open and squeezing through the small gap, Alan paused, unsure of where he was going to go to seek out the voice. There were no lights on in Scott's room, nor Gordon's across the hall, making Alan wonder if the voice had only awoken him rather than his brothers. There would be no fear of anything stirring Virgil, only a rescue and the threat of a cold bucket of water could do that, but it was unlike Scott not to have moved. Slipping silently down the hallway, his feet making no sound, it didn't even cross Alan's mind that his older brothers may not have yet even gone to bed.

Typically, now that he was up and about, the noise had yet to occur again. Unsure of where he was heading, Alan found himself in the kitchen, causing the teenager to smirk, despite his confusion. He was a Tracy through and through, there could be no denying that. The solution to any problem in this household was one thing and one thing alone: food. Absentmindedly plucking an apple from the bowl on the table, Alan wandered away again, just letting his feet carry him. Maybe he had imagined the noise after all, because no one else showed signs of stirring. Leaning his elbows on the railings, Alan took a bite as he gazed out to see, marvelling at the way the light from the moon played across the ocean. It was times like this he could appreciate both Virgil's and Gordon's pass times, there was something magnificent about the sight that needed to be captured and preserved, and at the same time, there was something amazingly inviting about the ocean. Unable to stop the small smile as he took another bite, Alan knew all too well what his father would say regarding night time swimming in the ocean, Gordon still claimed he was traumatised from not being able to swim for a week after his father found him sneaking out. Looking at it now, Alan couldn't blame his next oldest brother though, even _he _wanted to wade straight in and he wasn't part fish.

Finishing his apple off, Alan stretched as he tossed the core into the bin, deciding he may as well head back up to bed. With one foot raised to bring it down onto the stairs, the teenager froze, the voice returning.

"Darn it, I was so close. Oi! You little-,"

The rest of the sentence was drowned out, but Alan lowered his foot again, smiling. He should have known. Scott and Gordon hadn't been disturbed by the voice because they _were _the voices. All thoughts of sleep driven from his mind as he decided to find out what his siblings were up too, Alan followed a well trodden route, knowing precisely where they were, not only from the direction of the voices, but what had been said.

Within a matter of moments, the teenager was leaning casually against the door, watching the scene in the games room unfolding in amusement. The game his older brothers had been engaged in was paused on the screen, the players being too pre-occupied by the intense battle they were locked in. Scott was crouched behind the sofa, shaking with laughter as he piled the cushions up beside him, his back to the door meaning he had no idea his youngest brother was behind him. Gordon had taken shelter behind the free standing chair on the other side of the room, but judging by his lack of balance, Scott was winning the cushion fight. Eyeing each other carefully, both brothers dove for the cushions at the same time, slinging them across the room as hard as they could. Trying not to give away his presence, Alan laughed at seeing them so laid back. It wasn't often Scott would still act this childish, but when he did, he was worse than them all.

Quickly bought out of his musings as Gordon's latest missile went wide and headed straight for Alan, the teenager blinked, and, using the quick reflexes his International Rescue training had given him, plucked the pillow out of midair, stopping it from crashing into his face. Gordon's surprise was clear on his face, but his younger brother quickly motioned for him not to give away his presence, and so the red-head went back to pelting his older brother with pillows. Or, at least, trying too, for Scott seemed to be rather talented at dodging the missiles. Waiting until Scott was distracted, Alan snuck up behind him and bought the cushion crashing down on his head, making his older brother wobble as his balance was thrown. Gently nudging him with his foot, Alan smirked as the simple notion was enough to overbalance Scott and send him crashing down onto his own pile of carefully prepared cushions. Without a second's delay, Gordon scrambled across the room, pinning his brother to the floor. Sitting on top of his prize, Gordon grinned from ear-to-ear.

"Admit it, I'm the better driver." Snorting in astonishment, Alan unknowingly saved Scott from having to answer as they both turned to look at him.

"That's what all of this is about? You're playing the new game, aren't you?"

"And winning." Gordon declared smugly, automatically leaning back as Scott attempted to swing at him.

"He is not winning," the older brother butted in, glaring at his younger sibling whilst trying to dislodge him at the same time. "He is cheating, you completely nudged me off the track and made me crash!"

"That, Scotty, is all part of winning." Patting Scott on the cheek in a patronising manner, Gordon climbed off his brother, grinning at Alan in the process. Unable to stop himself from grinning back at the look on Scott's face, Alan was glad he had decided to get up. As if reading his thoughts, Scott spared his youngest brother a glance as he climbed to his feet.

"Wha'cha doing up, kiddo?"

"Pretty hard to sleep with the noise you two are making."

"Ops, sorry, Al. Blame Gordon."

"What?" Gordon gasped, mock outrage on his face. Before anything more could be said, Scott cut in.

"I want a rematch. You, Gordon Cooper Tracy, are a little cheat."

"Do we really have to start from the beginning again? You won't want too, Scott, trust me. I'm only going to thrash you for the fourth time tonight. Just admit it, flying is your forte, not driving, dear old brother."

"Less of the "old", fish," Scott snarled, although the laughter could still be heard in his voice. Scott's attitude was enough to make Alan aware that what Gordon was saying was true, the aquanaut had obviously beaten Scott more than once tonight. Making towards the red head threateningly, Scott suddenly stopped, a devious grin spreading across his face. Looking slightly alarmed, Gordon glanced at Alan for support, clearly not sure what Scott was up too. His little brother, however, only shrugged at him, no clearer.

"Did you just say flying was my forte, not driving?" Scott asked slowly his grin turning into one of smugness as Gordon slowly nodded, the frown on his face clearly showing he was wondering whether he would regret it or not.

"Ok. Gordon, race Alan."

"What?" Clearly wondering if Scott had lost his mind, Gordon's face was a complete picture of confusion.

"Driving isn't your forte either, little brother. It is, however, Alan's. So, let's see you try and cheat against him."

"S'not cheating," Gordon mumbled darkly under his breath, but was clearly unable to resist the challenge. Vaulting over the sofa, he quickly set about establishing a new game whilst Alan made his way more slowly around the sofa, grin firmly in place.

"Kick his butt, Sprout," Scott commented, crossing the room and sitting on the floor between them. This would teach Gordon to try and cheat, he was about to get well and truly thrashed by his little brother. No one had ever really bothered trying to play racing games with Alan, especially not since he had won the championships, it just wasn't worth the humiliation of being lapped five times.

Tossing Alan a controller, Gordon set his face to one of the utmost concentration. He knew the same tricks weren't going to work on his little brother the way they had on his older, Alan was bound to know every trick in the book, carry them off flawlessly and avoid everything Gordon threw at him, that was the problem of racing against someone who had won the championships in real life. Stick the cars under water, and Gordon would be singing a whole new tune. This time, however, Scott really had him cornered, knowing he wouldn't be able to walk away from the challenge, but also knowing that Gordon had as good as lost.

"You're top, Sprout."

"I know. Nice of you to have realised it, Gords."

"I meant the top screen, kiddo. Don't let your head get too big, the door is only so wide, you know."

"Oh, so _that's_ why your bedroom door is different to everyone else's." Muffling his snort of amusement, Scott quickly brought his brothers' attention back to the screen as the countdown began. One glance at the looks on their faces made his smirk widen. This would teach Gordon to cheat.

"3,2,1…GO!" Watching the screen, Scott immediately frowned in confusion.

"Are you sure Alan is top, Gords?" At Gordon's grunt of confirmation, Scott turned in surprise to his brothers, trying not to laugh at the look on Alan's face. The bottom screen showed a car racing around the track, slightly wide on the corners, but making good progress. The top screen, however, showed a car having run straight into the fencing on the side of the track, and in trying to turn it around, Alan so far had settled for spinning in circles.

"You're just giving him a chance, right, Al?" Scott couldn't help but ask, slightly concerned his pay back was going slightly wrong. The look on Alan's face made him realise that the youngest was clearly not intending this to happen at all, almost letting go of the controller as he tried to get the car facing the right way again. Eventually though, the sports car was facing the right way, and Alan shot off, making Scott breathe a sigh of relief as he watched Gordon take a corner way too fast and spin slightly out of control.

"Should have eased off there, Gords," Alan couldn't help but comment as he watched his car speed down the straight part of the track, coming up fast to the bends Gordon was in the process of navigating his way around.

"Shut up." Gordon grunted, his concentration locked on the screen even more so now that Alan was catching up on him. However, he didn't have to worry for long, just as he reached the corners, Alan's car once more span completely out of control, leaving him facing the wrong way. Making to speed off again, Alan frowned at the big arrow popping up on the screen, telling him to turn around. Jerking the control, Alan tried to turn the car, only ended up turning several times before he eventually faced the right way, only to skid to a stop as he pressed too hard on the brake.

"What the hell-?" Opting for creeping around the corners, Alan's face burned as Gordon sped off again, coming up fast on his second lap. Every corner the blond tried to go around, no matter what his speed, had him crashing into things. Just as he made his way out of the tightest one (although it had taken him five attempts), Alan jumped violently as Gordon shot past him, having taken the corners at a high speed and to perfection.

"You gave me the crap controller," Alan moaned, knowing that one of the controllers was slightly faulty.

"Fine, swap," Gordon said shortly, snatching the other controller out of Alan's and handing him his own, immediately making short work of the mess Alan was in and sent the car spinning around for the second lap. Deciding that he now at least had a chance now he had been given the car in the advantage point, Alan grinned smugly, hitting the accelerator and promptly crashing into a fence, only to watch as what had been previously his car went shooting past under Gordon's control.

Throwing the controller onto the floor in frustration, Alan crossed his arms sulkily, watching as Scott immediately snatched up the controller and jerked the car around, closing the distance between him and Gordon. Although Gordon was still in the lead, it was only by a fraction that he managed to cross the finishing line first, Scott having pulled up the distance between the two of them and resulting in a very furious final lap. Both brothers placed the controllers carefully back on the floor with a controlled slowness, before turning to face the youngest member of the family simultaneously, faces mirroring each other perfectly.

"Al?"

"That didn't just happen," Alan muttered, more to himself than his brothers as he buried his face in his hands, the tops of his ears going red with embarrassment. "I never woke up, this is all just a dream."

Feeling a slender finger prod him sharply in the ribs, Alan jerked back upright to see Gordon looking back at him innocently.

"Feel like a dream?"

"Shut up," Alan growled, causing his brothers to smirk. "It's completely different in real life. Bet you can't get past the first level on Virg's new game, Scott."

Accepting the challenge with a grin and a twinkle in his eye, Scott immediately switched games, handing the controller back to Alan with a neutral expression. He didn't really understand what Virgil's new game was about, only knew that it somehow involved flying, hence Alan's challenge.

A considerable amount of time later, however, and Alan was furiously sulking. Not only had he spectacularly lost to Scott in that game by flying into a telegraph pole, he had then managed to drown himself whilst challenging Gordon, and in a bid for neutral ground, shot his own team members. He used to be good at this!

"What's happened, Sprout?" Before Alan could try and defend his lack of skills, a voice sounded from the doorway, causing all three to jump guiltily and spin around, only to see an amused Kyrano framed in the doorframe.

"Boys? You do realise it is 6am?"

"Damn, Dad's gonna kill us!" Jumping to his feet, Scott hastily stuffed the boxes under the sofa, not being bothered to put them in their proper place, and sped from the room, dragging Alan and Gordon with him. Diving into bed, Scott lay there breathing heavily for a few moments, before beginning to laugh. It had been a _very _long time since the days he, John and Virgil used to sneak into each others' rooms for all night gaming sessions. Jeff, however, was not going to be impressed when he found out what time the three of them had got to bed. Chuckling to himself, Scott suddenly yawned widely and finally allowed his body the sleep it had been deprived off.

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

Padding into the kitchen, Jeff smiled gratefully as he grabbed the cup of coffee and the paper waiting for him and turned to the table. Frowning when he caught sight of the empty seats, Jeff sat down slowly, wondering if there was something going on he didn't know about. It was only 6:30, but normally by this time, Scott had just come back from his run and Gordon and Alan normally were already tearing about like they had never grown up. It was no surprise not to see Virgil and with John up on Five, Jeff was left on his own, something that had not happened for a long time.

"Kyrano, do you know where the boys are?"

"Still sleeping, I believe, Mr Tracy," Kyrano commented, turning away so his boss didn't see the twinkle in his eyes. "They had a late night team building session last night. At least, Scott, Gordon and Alan did, Virgil was already in bed and they didn't want to wake him."

Surprised at the spontaneity of the actions, Jeff frowned. Scott normally ran any team building sessions past him first, making sure the team weren't needed for anything before dragging his brothers off to put them through their paces. It was unlike him to do something so spur of the moment.

"Late night team building session? And what precisely did this entail, Kyrano?"

"I don't know, Mr Tracy. I think it was something to do with working on the diversity of their skills."

"Oh, right. Remind me to get a full debrief from Scott later."

"Yes, Mr Tracy," Kyrano agreed, making a mental note to do anything but that. At least, not until he could give the troublesome youths a heads up on what was going on. He had been slightly worried when he could hear the noise coming from the games room when he had awoken that morning, but more than amused when he caught sight of the occupants, all looking exhausted, but not having realised quite how long they had been in there.

"I'll be in my office when they re-appear; I've got some paperwork to do. If you see Scott, tell him I want a word, would you? That boy always seems to know when I want to see him and disappears."

Smiling at Jeff's back as he distractedly walked out again, Kyrano decided to give him five minutes before taking the breakfast Jeff had forgotten to eat through to him. One thing was for sure, the Tracy patriarch was not used to being on his own at breakfast; he seemed at a complete loss. Oh, he'd tell Scott alright, after telling the young man how irresponsible he had been staying up all night –what if there had been a rescue? – but promising that his father would hear nothing about it. However, Kyrano also would make sure that Gordon and Alan heard the speech as well, it wasn't fair to blame it all on Scott just because he was their field commander, the boys were old enough to know better. Picking up the warm plate and placing it on a tray, Kyrano softly left the kitchen. It was going to be one of those days, the Malaysian could just tell.

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

Scott was warm and comfortable when he felt himself being dragged back to alertness. In fact, if it wasn't for someone constantly poking him in the leg, he could have quite happily have drifted back off to sleep.

"Gordon, cut it out or I'll drain the pool," he muttered sleepily, making to roll back over. He really wasn't awake enough to have to deal with his prankster of a brother.

"Guess again." A cheerful voice commented lightly, making Scott snap his eyes open in surprise. Rolling over, Scott blinked at John's smiling face, his brain not having woken up enough to realise his brother shouldn't even be on the planet.

"John? Where d'you come from?"

"Well, really, Scotty, at your age, I thought you'd know by now. I'm sure Gordon will explain it for you if you ask him."

"What? Oh! That's not what I meant and you know it. Aren't you supposed to be in that tin can of yours?" Feeling another sharp prod in his leg, Scott peered blearily at his brother. He certainly couldn't take the all nighters the way he used to be able too. _Man, that sucks, _Scott thought bitterly as he pushed himself into an upright position, _it makes me sound old. Gee, don't let Gordon hear you say that._

"Earth calling Scott? You still with me, man?"

"Yeah, sorry, John, fazed out for a moment there."

"Ok, Scott, spill. Why the heck are you still in bed? Are you sick? It's one o'clock and you're in bed. What is wrong?"

"We had a `late night training session` apparently," another voice joined in. Gordon strolled into the room, his swimming shorts still damp, the towel slung casually across his shoulders. Making to perch on the end of Scott's bed, Gordon smirked at his brother. "Good morning, sunshine. Don't you just look gorgeous?"

"Who said we had a training session?" Scott asked, sounding amused as he kicked Gordon off the second the red head sat down. "And where's Alan?"

"Scott, if I'm sitting here talking to you, where do you _think_ Alan is?" John asked, eyebrows raised in amusement at the disorientated state of his only older brother. If it always took him this long for his brain to catch up, it was no wonder Scott always made sure he was up before any of the others.

"Oh. Yeah. Tin can." Ignoring John's glare, Scott instead turned to Gordon. "Who said we had a late night training session?"

"Kyrano told Dad. That man is a saint, Dad really thinks we did. I told him it was enlightening, by the way." Looking at the amused glances shooting between his brothers as Scott swung his legs out of bed, John couldn't help feeling confused.

"So if you didn't have a training session, what were you guys doing? And don't say nothing, Gordon was yawning the whole journey home."

"Gordon came to get you?" Scott asked, sounding incredulous. Normally, Gordon would do anything to get out of doing the runs up to Five, the water loving Tracy much preferred staying at least within earth's atmosphere.

"Yeah, well, _someone_ was still asleep and Virgil was already working on some who-knows-what on Two, like the angel I am, I volunteered. It also meant I wouldn't have to face Dad on my own before you got up."

Realising he hadn't actually answered John's question, Scott opened his mouth again, but before the words could come out, Virgil burst into the room, looking incredibly put out.

"How come Dad says you guys had a training session without me? Oh, hey, John."

"Hey, Virg," John answered, smiling at the sight of his younger brother, covered in grease. Gordon was clearly telling the truth about Virgil having been working on something on Two, the guy was filthy.

"We didn't, we ended up with an all nighter." As John and Virgil traded knowing grins, Scott finally pulled himself out of bed, making his way through to his bathroom.

"Gordon challenged Alan to a race."

"I did NOT," Gordon declared loudly, glaring in Scott's direction, "someone _made _me because they couldn't take loosing."

Wincing at Gordon's bad luck to have to race against the driver of the family, Virgil smirked at Gordon's words, knowing full well who this "bad loser" was. Scott had always been used to winning, one of the perks of being the oldest, and had never quite been prepared to give that up when his younger brothers had caught up with him.

"Geez, it's been years since we did one of those. Can you remember how mad Dad used to get when he found us all in one room in the morning, the TV normally still on from where we had fallen asleep?"

John, however, was looking at Gordon in something could resemble sympathy.

"Just how humiliating was it?" He asked quietly, frowning in confusion when Gordon glanced towards Scott in the bathroom, and identical grins split over their faces.

"Ask Alan," Scott commented, smirk widening. "For someone that used to be unstoppable, the kid has certainly lost his touch. Of course, he claims that it is different in real life, but the sprout lost at everything. I'm kind of worried about him."

"Alan _lost?_" Virgil practically yelped, sounding far too delighted. Making his way out of the bathroom, towel still in hand from where he had been drying his face, Scott winced when he saw who was in his doorway. He only wondered how long their father had been standing there. All of the brothers had their backs to the door, meaning there was no telling with just how much he had overheard.

"Alan lost what?"

Momentarily stunned into speechlessness, the three remaining brothers all froze for a moment, before answering at the same time.

"The plot."

"His mind."

"His virginity."

"Eww, Gordon, please, I've only just got up."

"Well, after that extremely helpful assessment, I came to tell you lunch is ready. Gordon, dry off properly first, and Virgil…" Pausing, Jeff ran his eyes over his middle son, inwardly flinching. "Try and get cleaned up a bit."

"Sure, Dad." Virgil responded, glancing down at himself and wincing. He never knew how he managed to get so dirty every time he did something with his 'bird, none of the others save Scott managed to get themselves covered in it. He figured it was something to do with being an artist; he had always had the talent for covering himself in as much paint as his canvas. Why Scott ended up so dirty was anyone's guess.

Leaving Scott's room, the artist set back off to his own, jumping in the shower as quickly as he could. Having the fastest shower in Tracy history, it was only a matter of moments before he was out and dressed, scrambling down the stairs as fast as he could, hair still wet and sticking up from where he had forgotten to comb it. He knew he was running a great risk being late for lunch, but he soon sped into the dining room at top speed, somehow automatically skirting around the leg Gordon had stuck out and throwing himself into his seat. Glancing up, he was met with smirking faces of his family.

"New record, Virg." Scott said flatly, glancing towards his panting brother and then back to his watch, the corners of his mouth showing his amusement even though his tone was neutral. John quickly passed his brother a glass of juice, something that Virgil downed gratefully before flopping back in his chair, eyeing the plate of sandwiches hungrily.

"Looks like someone needs to get into shape." Gordon commented with a smile, watching in amusement as Virgil desperately tried to hide the fact he was out of breath.

"Well, you didn't include him in your session last night, it's not Virgil's fault if training sessions are going to take place without him."

"Er…yeah." Quickly busying himself with swiping a sandwich from John's plate as he turned to offer the big plate to Scott, Gordon bit his lip trying to keep his expression neutral. Catching Scott's eye, Gordon glanced at the table, trying to hide the grin that threatened to split his face in two. Judging by Scott's reaction, he was also struggling to contain himself. Giving John a meaningful kick under the table, Gordon only hoped the blond was aware of the difficulties of the brothers both sides of him were experiencing and would help them out. As John turned to glare at his younger brother, he caught sight of his empty plate and frowned in confusion.

Glancing at the plate circling the table, then back at his own, John's frown deepened. Watching him out of the corner of his eye, Virgil smirked as Gordon took an elaborated bite out of the stolen food, making a show of how nice it was. As John simply looked more and more confused, Virgil couldn't help it and burst out laughing, causing Gordon to grin at him. Glancing up, Jeff took one look at the faces and sighed.

"Give your brother his lunch back, Gordon." Swallowing obviously, Gordon smiled innocently at the murderous glare John was shooting him. Offering the blond the half eaten sandwich, Gordon winked.

"Here you go, Johnny."

"You little-,"

"John." Jeff broke in warningly, his eyes twinkling in amusement despite his tone. "Let me rephrase that, Gordon, give your brother the sandwiches."

Picking up the plate, Gordon offered it to his brother, only to pull it just past John's reach as he went to pick one up. Repeating the action a few more times, John dropped his hand, glaring at his brother.

"Dude, you suck."

"Aww, but that's why you love me, Johnny-boy."

"Gordon."

"Sorry, Dad. Here, Johnny, let me help you. You can have this one, see, it's all done specially for the special boy."

"Gordon."

"Aww, is Scotty jealous? Better eat it quick, John, Scotty's jealous of your sandwich."

"Ok, Gordon, that's enough." Knowing he was testing the temper of not only his father, but Scott as well, Gordon backed down, handing John the plate with a smile. Grabbing it more forcefully than strictly necessary, John poked his tongue out at his brother, causing the younger to burst out laughing.

"And you guys call me immature."

"And for good reason, Gords."

"Scotty, Virgil's being mean." Pouting in the most pathetic manner he could manage, Gordon sent his oldest brother the big puppy dog eyes that used to work when he was young.

"Man it up, Gordon."

"So sympathetic," Virgil said with a smile, finishing off his lunch before any brother, younger or older, could steal it. Sitting back in his chair, Jeff surveyed the banter in front of him with a loving smile, knowing that whilst he has his moments of wanting to strangle them, he wouldn't trade his boys for the world.

"What's the plan for this afternoon, boys?"

"Scott and I are having a training session, I want to feel in better shape." John said quickly, getting in first before the stampede of answers were shouted out. Surprisingly, Gordon remained quiet at the opening his brother had just given him, but the red head knew where to draw the line and was aware he would be pushing it if he made another comment.

"Go easy on him, Scott," Jeff said with a smile, eyes twinkling at the indignant look that shot across John's face. "Virgil, Gordon, what are you two up too?"

"I want to get these repairs finished on the grabs, I'm not happy with them. In fact, I might get Brains to give me a hand, I need another opinion." Virgil reported, swinging back on his chair and balancing on two legs, only to drop it crashing back down on all fours at his father's look.

"Gordon?"

"Don't know," the prankster said with a shrug, not sure whether he should feel offended or not by the instantly suspicious looks his brothers were shooting him. "Might give Alan a call, there is something I want to talk to him about."

"He's only been gone a couple of hours," Virgil responded, sounding incredulous. When Gordon winked at him, the artist felt the smirk slip back onto his face. Why did he get the feeling that Alan wouldn't be enjoying this conversation?

"Ok, boys, off you go." As the stampede he called his sons all stood up and began darting from the room, anxious to get on with whatever they were planning on doing, Jeff allowed himself a smile.

"Oh, and Scott?" When his eldest turned back towards him in confusion, Jeff winked. "Get Gordon to help you clean up the games room, the cushions are everywhere and all the boxes are under the sofa. You don't want your old man getting suspicious about what this late night training session included, do you?"

"Yes sir," Scott responded with a grin, exchanging surprised looks with his red headed sibling. Watching them scramble away as Scott tripped his younger brother up before darting off with a laugh; Jeff rocked back himself, smiling contently. Nope, wouldn't change them for the world.

**What did you think?**


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